Ferrari World Coming To A City Near You?

Last month, Ferrari World, the new Ferrari theme park in Abu Dhabi, opened its doors for the very first time, welcoming an inaugural period that will run through this month. An official grand opening ceremony is scheduled for November 30, and the world will officially have the Disney World of fast cars with prancing horse hood ornaments. It's about damn time.

Now I'm not sure about our average reader, but I know that I don't have a trip to Abu Dhabi planned anytime soon. And as much of a draw as Ferrari World is, I just don't see myself heading in that direction in the near future. But, if there happened to be a Ferrari World a little closer to home, it would definitely make my vacation short list. And according to news reports, Ferrari is already in the process of building a theme park empire.

The U.K.'s Daily Mail reported last week that Ferrari is currently in discussions with the administration of Valencia, Spain toward building a second Ferrari World there. In a sign that the city wants it as much as, if not more than, Ferrari, the mayor and other city officials actually traveled to Italy for the talks. I guess if the public was paying for my trip to Ferrari headquarters, I'd make up any excuse to go too.

At such an early stage, it's not clear how a second Ferrari World would compare to the first, which bills itself as the world's largest indoor theme park, but it's good to know that Ferrari is thinking beyond the Middle East. Now, hopefully, they're thinking beyond Spain—the United States, for instance.

In the meantime, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi opened its doors for a soft public opening on November 4. The park features all kinds of Ferrari-based rides and amusements, including the Formula Rossa roller coaster, the world's fastest.

Ahmed Sallam, one of the park's first visitors said: "Ferrari World Abu Dhabi is a completely unique concept, we just had to be here.There is so much to see and do. We love the variety for the whole family. It is a great experience for all of us."